Prophylaxis of bloat



United States Patent 3,074,846 PROPHYLAXES 0F BLOAT Roy E. Nichols,Madison, Wis., assiguor to Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation,Madison, Wis, a corporation of Wisconsin No Drawing. Filed June 22,1955, Ser. No. 517,381 2 Claims. (Cl. 167-53) The present inventionrelates to bloat and more especially to compositions and methods havingparticular utility in the prophylaxis of frothy bloat.

Bloat is the building up of gas pressure in the paunch of ruminants suchas the cow, sheep and the like. A swelling in the left flank is usuallythe first obvious sign. The animals eyes bulge, the animal becomesuneasy, it stops eating, and it may become frantic in its efforts tolessen the pressure of gas in its paunch. It can be fatal and has beenrecognized as a serious problem for many years. Veterinarians, forexample, treated an esti mated 13,000 cases of cattle bloat in Wisconsinin 1951, and yearly losses from bloat in this state alone run well overtwo million dollars. See University of Wisconsin, Extension Service,Circular 446, April 1953.

Various suggestions of possible causes of bloat as well as so-calledcures have been made by previous investigators in this field. However,prior to the discoveries leading to the present invention no medicinalpreparation has been experimentally proven to have value in preventingor curing bloat. As a result, when an animal was very badly bloated andshowed no sign of recovering without help, the treatment indicatedcalled for the insertion of a sharp instrument, preferably a trocar orcanula, deep into the most swollen part of the left flank to let the gasescape. The disadvantages of this drastic treatment are apparent.

Recently the use of so-called surface-tension increasing agents such asthe methyl silicones have been proposed for the treatment of bloat. U.S.Patent No. 2,635,981. These agents are known as foam depressants and,while this approach may be preferred to the sticking operation describedabove, it still fails to solve the problem as it deals with treatmentrather than the all-important prevention of bloat.

During the research investigations relating to bloat it was determinedthat acute bloat is more prevalent in animals consuming legumes e.g.,alfafa, and particularly so when the legumes are pastured and are youngand not stemmy. It was also determined that bloat is associated withrainy spells, wet seasons and the like. It was further determined thatheavy feeding of grains to finish animals may result in bloat. Withthese and other observations it was then determined that bloat may becaused by food e.g., legumes and grain, sinking to the bottom of therumen resulting in the liquid level being raised above the opening tothe rumen. Large amounts of gas bubbles in the paunch liquor might beresponsible for this as well as contributing materially per se to theraising of the liquid above the opening to the rumen. Obviously, whenthe liquid blocks the food intake tube, elimination of gas by belchingis impossible.

In attempts to find means for avoiding this phenomena it was discoveredthat certain surface-tension reducing detergents would prevent bloat iffed to the animals daily during the period that they are consumingrelatively large amounts of legumes, grains and like foods which tend tocause bloat. One group of preferred detergents are the well knownanionic alkyl aryl and aryl sulfonates such as available under thetrademarks Nacconol and Ultrawet.

It was unexpected that the surface-tension reducing agents would worksatisfactorily as they are known foam producing agents as distinguishedfrom the silicones which are known as foam depressants. In other words,unlike prior suggestions calling for the use of defoaming agents in thetreatment of frothy bloat, the present invention employs foam producingagents as means for eliminating gas and preventing frothy bloat. Basedon investigations, it appears that the surface-tension reducingdetergents remove gas bubbles in the paunch liquor and thus preventrelatively large amounts of food from sinking to or remaining on thebottom of the rumen. The net result is that the liquid level ismaintained below the food intake tube, and gas collecting in the rumenmay be readily eliminated by belching.

The detergent suitable for use in the present invention should besubstantially non-toxic in the amounts used and should be soluble in thepaunch liquor. Detergents which are characterized by antiseptic orbacteriostatic properties such as the cationic detergents are notsuitable as they interfere with the essential digestive processes in theanimal i.e. deleteriously effect bacteria and enzymes resulting in delayin cellulose digestion. The following are examples illustrating thepresent invention.

Example I About 98.5 pounds of ruminant feed made up of a mixture ofgrains is thoroughly mixed with about 1.5 pounds of powdered dodecylbenzene sodium sulfonate or like higher alkyl aryl'alkali metalsulfonate or mixtures of the same.

Example 11 About pounds of salt of the grade fed to cattle is thoroughlymixed with about 20 pounds of alkyl aryl sulfonate or aryl sodiumsulfonate such as available under the trademark Ultrawet. The resultingmixture is then compressed into a salt cake.

Example 111 About 98 pounds of cattle grain based feed is thoroughlymixed with about one pound of alkyl aryl su1- fonate of the typeavailable under the trademark Nacconol and about one pound of commercialgrade lecithin. Lecithin and like materials can be used alone althoughtheir use in combination with an anionic or nonionic detergent andparticularly the higher alkyl (l0-20 car bon atoms) aromatic sulfonatesis preferred. In a similar manner (see Example II), the mixture ofdetergent e.g. alkyl aryl sulfonate, and lecithin can be mixed with saltand formed into a salt cake.

The detergents, in addition to being mixed with grain or like feed, canalso be sprayed in aqueous solution form on food such as hay and thelike. Ordinarily the grain based food contains about 0.0055.0% by weightof the detergent. The detergents can also be mixed with food ingredientssuch as salt (NaCl) and the mixture used as such or formed into the wellknown salt cake as noted above. With salt the detergent is ordinarilypresent in from about 525% by weight with a mixture containing about 1part of detergent and about 4 parts of salt being one of the preferred.Any of the foods suitable for feeding to ruminants can be employed. Theamount of detergent combined with the food can vary over wide limitsdepending upon the amount of food fed to the animals. The amount ofdetergent required to prevent bloat also varies with the amount of bloatproducing foods available to the animal. Optimum amounts as, forexample, l-3O grams per day can be readily ascertained by experiment. Ininvestigations carried out on over 1400 cattle, a daily intake of about5 to 10 grams of detergent has proven in most instances satisfactory.The compositions of Examples I and III can 3 be used as feedconcentrates for mixing with grain or they can be used as such in properamounts to provide the dosages indicated above. A preferred range forconcentrates is feed (grain based) containing about 0.5- 5.0 percent byweight of detergent.

A surface active agent such as lecithin can be used to advantage asindicated above in combination with a detergent of the type specified.The surface active detergent, on the one hand, has been found to give avery rapid response while lecithin, on the other hand, has been found tobe characterized by slow response but with an activity that persists fora relatively long period of time. Maximum efiect of the type desired isobtained by use of mixtures as specified in Example III. Lecithin,however, can be advantageously used with salt, e.g. 5- 20 pounds oflecithin to 95-80 pounds of salt in cake or loose form, Withoutdetergent, and the resulting salt composition used with or without grainbased feed containing surface active detergent.

Any of the anionic and nonionic detergents can be employed in thepresent invention. Masking or flavoring agents such as licorice can alsobe employed to mask the taste of the detergent or surface active agentand make the compositions more acceptable to the ruminant. One of thepreferred compositions in this connection is made up of about 15%molasses, 35-39% corn meal, 30% salt, 15-l6% lecithin with or withoutabout 5% alkyl aryl sulfonate. Minerals or other nutrients can also beincorporated in this and other compositions of the present invention.

I claim:

1. A composition adaptable for use in the prophylaxis of bloatcomprising a ruminant food containing as essential ingredients lecithinin combination with a surfacetension reducing agent selected from theclass consisting of anionic and nonionic detergents which are soluble inpaunch liquor.

2. A composition adaptable for use in the prophylaxis of bloatcomprising essentially about 15 molasses, 35- 39% corn meal, 30% salt,15-16% lecithin and about 5% alkyl aryl sulfonate which is soluble inpaunch liquor.

References Jited in the file of this patent Schwartz: Surface ActiveAgents, vol. 1, 1949, Interscience Pub. Inc., New York, N.Y., pp.459-463.

Myren: Hoards Dairyman, November 10, 1953, page

1. A COMPOSITION ADAPTABLE FOR USE IN HE PROPHYLAXIS OF BLOAT COMPRISINGA RUMINANT FOOD CONTAINING AS ESSENTIAL INGREDIENTS LECITHIN INCOMBINATION WITH A SURFACETENSION REDUCING AGENT SELECTED FROM THE CLASSCONSISTING OF ANIONIC AND NONIONIC DETERGENTS WHICH ARRE SOLUBLE INPAUNCH LIQUOR.